So I'm a pretty big video game enthusiast. I play often, I collect systems, I read a lot about them; they're a pretty big part of my life. But what in the hell is wrong with the gaming community in general? I swear, they're the most whiny, self-entitled, vocal group of people on the face of the planet. They're quick to dismiss any new hardware or software as shit, flame the living hell out of people who are actually interested in the products, and demand perfection from the people making the things. Except that everyone has their own different opinion on what constitutes perfection, so there is no way to make anyone happy. I realize that this happens in every other industry out there, but the gaming community is just so damn vocal about what they want and don't want. And even when they are given what they want, they're all like "You assholes only gave us this because we had to ask for it. You should have done this in the first place!" And the damn divide between "casuals" and "hardcore gamers". Not to mention the dreaded console wars. Does it actually matter in the long run? Who cares if someone else is enjoying something different from you? I don't know about you, but I game to have fun and relax. I'm not really into competition or online gaming (well except for Pokemon and Mario Kart), but even when I do, it's more to have fun with like-minded people, not to get the highest score or to crush the n00bs. That's why I absolutely love Nintendo's Miiverse on Wii U and soon 3DS. I can play a single player game, post about it on a forum where people are playing the same game, and read comments from other people enjoying the game. There's no shit talking, no "I'm gonna beat your bitch ass down" mentality (although that could just be a product of the moderation). But even if there wasn't moderation, I don't feel the need to shit talk. I just want to express how much fun I'm having. And I can do that because I know that the community is supportive and having fun too. But outside of that, it's an ugly world. Angry, angry people shitting on each other 24/7. People take the industry WAY too seriously. Do they forget that it's an optional form of entertainment? Like TV, movies, books, and comics. I know people can get into some pretty heated discussions about their fictional universes, but you never really hear tell of the crazy shit going on in gaming happening in the other entertainment realms. Well, except for maybe the Trekkies and comic book people. But I never heard tell of someone shooting and killing another person over an issue of Spider-Man (which is what happened recently in a PS4 sale). Just... stop taking games so damn seriously and just have fun at your own pace. And stop calling yourself "gamers". It's pejorative, loaded, and is overcentralizing to your identity.
Speaking of gaming, I've been pouring tons of hours in Pokemon X ever since it came out. By the way, I'm using Pokemon instead of Pokémon because I'm typing on my netbook, whose numpad is accessible only through hitting function key+F11, so alt codes are a pain to type. Anyway, so Pokemon. Like I mentioned previously, I'm into competitive battling. Well, sort of. I don't do it often. Even online social interaction scares me... But I love reading about it. The strategies, IVs, EVs, and the like. I raise Pokemon just for fun and use them on the in-game battle institutions, like the Battle Maison in X and Y. I've been doing this since LeafGreen but each generation has seen me getting more and more sophisticated with my raising. LeafGreen, I didn't care about even natures, let alone EVs and IVs. I raised my in-game team up to level 100 and thought they were pretty cool. My Impish Espeon, Bold Lugia from XD with Psycho Boost, and... that's all I can remember. Wrong natures and no knowlesge of EV placement. Then I got Pearl later on. Never got into raising stuff in that one, actually. Platinum, though. That was a turning point for me. By then, I learned all about Smogon and EVs and IVs and movesets and started raising stuff in that one. I remember raising a Weavile, Jolly, and probably a few other things. I didn't breed for IVs though, because I knew it would take probably weeks to get one perfect Pokemon so I said fuck it, it doesn't matter and I don't care. Who cares about an extra few stat points? Even some moves, like priority moves and support moves, baffled me. Why would I want to use a fighting type Quick Attack? Quick Attack sucks because it's so weak! And why would I want to waste a turn setting up Substitute when I can just outright attack? I was so naive. Then I got HeartGold as a birthday present. That game... That game is the best Pokemon game I've ever played, hands down. A remake of my favourite games, Gold and Silver, with up to date mechanics and so polished! Meeting gym leaders outside their gyms for photos, your Pokemon walking with you and playing around when you speak to them, the music, the visuals, the GB Sounds, Cerulean Cave and Seafoam Islands returning to their former glory, and the legendaries from other regions to catch! I could keep going on but needless to say, it was perfection. I also got into breeding for shinies in that one. It worked maybe once... But holy damn, did it ever work well. I hatched a shiny Shroomish on my 8th or so egg, with a Jolly nature and Poison Heal. He is now a proud level 100 shiny 252 Atk/252 Spd Breloom with Spore, Substitute, Focus Punch, and Seed Bomb and is holding a Toxic Orb. Of course, I still didn't care about IVs at this point so that was whatever. So I raised a crap ton of stuff this time around and raised them all up to level 100 because of the copious amounts of places with high level trainers to grind against, like the Pokemon League second run and gym leader rematches. Then out came Black and White. I was starting to get more of the hang of things. Did my level 100 raising, mostly against the Elite Four second round, bred some shinies (Emboar, Chandelure), but it was mostly the same as HG. Black 2 was my next time. This time, I really started thinking about in-depth movesets to use. Priority moves, entry hazards, defensive cores, offensive combinations, and mostly the use of Choice Scarf Moxie Salamence and Choice Band Technician Scizor. Also Multiscale Dragon Dance Dragonite and Stealth Rock Skarmory. Oh baby! The PWT trainers were no match for me! And now I'm on X. This time, my breeding has REALLY ramped up. Because of the new Destiny Knot mechanics and the introduction of the Friend Safari where every Pokemon is guaranteed to have to 2 perfect IVs, 5 perfect IV breeding is so easy I can do it in just a few short hours. And boy have I done it a lot. A new Skarmory with Spikes (although I like Stealth Rock better but SR isn't accessible by Skarmory until Pokebank comes out), Mega Charizard X, Technician Breloom, Gliscor, and most recently Mega Gengar. All with 5 perfect IVs, the imperfect one being the attacking stat it doesn't use, except for Skarmory who doesn't have perfect speed, but Skarmory doesn't really need to be fast unless it has Taunt, which mine doesn't. Speaking of Taunt, my Gliscor has Taunt and he is AWESOME. Next on my plate is probably Protean Greninja. I also read about the Truant/Entrainment Durant combo for easy Battle Maison winning, so I might give that a go. Not sure if I even want to bother with perfect breeding Durant, since all its purpose would be is to set up Entrainment then switch out to a Protect/boosting move sweeper (read: Mega Blaziken). Choice Scarf and perfect speed, that's all I need.
Well, that's all I have for this evening. Sorry about the huge paragraphs; the topics are so related within them that I had trouble finding a good point of separation. It's late and I'm too tired to proofread everything, so if you read this and see any typos or other errors, let me know and I will happily make the necessary changes.
Thanks for reading,
K
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